Ryan Gosling Takes Ballet, Thinks “Like a Girl” and is Sick of Talking About Himself

Actor Ryan Gosling is having one amazing year, and will continue to do so considering his hefty line up of commitments. Gracing the cover of magazines, making the promotional rounds, appearing on the red carpet, interviews, and more, Gosling is on top of the world in his career, and admittedly, during an interview with The Independent, he says he is sick of himself. “I’m just so sick of myself. I can’t imagine how everyone else feels. And there’s just nowhere to go but down really from here. So, hey, it’s been nice. It’s been real.”

One of Gosling’s most recent roles was opposite George Clooney in The Ides of March. Together the duo co-starred in a story that follows a newbie on the campaign trail. Clooney also directed the picture, while sharing the screen with Gosling, who surely felt the pressure of working with the star. “It scared me for sure. I don’t know if you can imagine but it’s a very nerve-racking thing to walk into this world, which is right in George’s wheelhouse.”

Since appearing in the political thriller, Gosling says the “parallels between Hollywood and politics have since become glaringly obvious. “It’s very hard to be honest in both jobs. You can’t really tell the truth because everything you say is taken out of context and cut up. You just have to be careful what you say.” Gosling did however, forgo his rule of sharing too much, talking about his love of ballet. A hobbie most wouldn’t imagine Gosling, a performer who just played the lead role in Drive, to enjoy. The thirty year old says he has a softer side. “I think like a girl, I think. I was literally raised by my mother and my sister. And I just feel like I wouldn’t know how to think any other way. My sister was my best friend and my hero growingup. Because I was home-schooled I didn’t have a lot of friends and I did ballet, which was always just girls. All of that had an effect on my brain.”

With a limited amount of “free time” on his hands the actor does make it into a Los Angeles ballet studio to practice his craft. “I practise whenever I can.A lot of the students are young girls so they’re there with their mums but they just kind of watch and tell me to keep it up. They try and be positive but I’m so bad. I don’t even know what I like about it but it’s like acting, I’m just compelled to do it and I do it to find out why. The not knowing is interesting.”

He also took the time to clear up those retirement rumors that spun into a life of its own after a recent interview was taken out of context. “What I said was that I’ve been acting since I was 12 [he starred alongside Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in the children’s TV series The Mickey Mouse Club] and I’ve been feeling very creative lately but that I can’t see myself maintaining that pace or doing this for the rest of my life. I really can see directing becoming a big part of my life.”

“I’ve never booked myself up like this. I used to make a film every year or two. A week after I finished The Place Beyond the Pines, I started on my current film Gangster Squad [with Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Emma Stone]. We’ll see. I may come to regret it but I just want to be making films right now. The opportunities are so great I don’t want just to be hanging out. I feel like this is the time for me to be productive.”